Sox shuffle Cards to take Game 1

Wednesday was exciting, but thanks to the usual crackle of October baseball, of getting to watch this marauding Red Sox team march to No. 105 since John Farrell and friends ended the nightmare.

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By JON COUTURE

southcoasttoday.com

By JON COUTURE

Posted Oct. 24, 2013 at 12:15 AM
Updated Oct 24, 2013 at 6:04 AM

By JON COUTURE

Posted Oct. 24, 2013 at 12:15 AM
Updated Oct 24, 2013 at 6:04 AM

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BOSTON — The Red Sox basically made it through the American League Championship Series on the back of two mistakes. Given two whole innings of them, it's little wonder they feasted.

Given the stage, too. And the opponent.

Sorry, that's too dismissive. The pitching-rich, October-tested National League champion St. Louis Cardinals arrived in the third inning on Wednesday. A sextet of pitchers held the home team to three hits and three runs from there, slowing the freight train the modern-day Red Sox board every time "WORLD SERIES" gets painted behind the plate.

Mike Matheny felt the need to roll through nearly his entire lineup card in a lopsided Game 1, one the Sox claimed 8-1 for a ninth straight victory in the World Series and a 1-0 lead in this edition, but no matter.

We can't expect 2004. Kevin Millar's in the media goofing around, not the dugout. Keith Foulke's getting his ticket checked by an usher, not sending everyone home night after night. These Cardinals will be a worthy adversary, dangerous in the way most NL teams aren't. An exciting week of showdowns still await.

I think.

Wednesday was exciting, but thanks to the usual crackle of October baseball, of getting to watch this marauding Red Sox team march to No. 105 since John Farrell and friends ended the nightmare. Wednesday, it was 5-0 when the metaphorical Cardinal bus arrived. Said bus having passed Carlos Beltran en route, one of October's most dangerous hitters ever racing toward Mass. General Hospital with a reported rib contusion.

"Everything came back negative," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Beltran's X-rays at CT scans. "He's going to be day-to-day."

The first positive play defensively earns the guy an ambulance ride. That's a heck of a night.

It is the postseason story here, and everywhere really. October has a way of amplifying even the smallest mistakes. Maybe it's the crowds — Fenway was on fire, though Beltran's slam saver on Ortiz took some starch out. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's the adrenaline, this being the point of a year's worth of work. (And then some.)

"If guys aren't feeling some adrenaline, they might not be human," John Farrell said before Game 1.

How they react to it determines champions.

Was it the adrenaline that got to Adam Wainwright? In 37 prior starts this season, Wainwright walked the leadoff man once. He walked Jacoby Ellsbury on Wednesday night. He, I would presume, rarely allows an infield fly to fall between himself and catcher Yadier Molina in front of the mound.

Same as Pete Kozma, a strong defender on a generally bad defensive team, rarely drops a flip at second. Especially not several minutes before he muffs a ground ball.

The Sox made it all sting. Mike Napoli's bases-clearing double on a 2-0 cutter — he's 7-for-18 (.388) beginning with that game-winning shot off Justin Verlander in Detroit. Dustin Pedroia, his power sapped, sneaking two ground-ball singles through the infield.

Ortiz, following his blast toward the Cardinal bullpen with a single on a two-strike curveball and his fourth home run this October. (The first strike in his battle with Cardinals lefty specialist Kevin Siegrist.)

It was far more than Jon Lester needed, the two-strike cutter he was too reliant on when he was struggling a consistent out pitch in yet another postseason gem. Seven two-thirds scoreless make it 27 for the month. Five runs, three wins. Supported again by David Ross behind the plate, helping him mix in an effective curveball with mid-90s stuff. Backed by a defense that, when the Cardinals loaded the bases in the fourth for David Freese, turned its 17th double play in 11 games.

Execution when it counts, not errors.

"That is not the kind of team that we've been all season," Matheny said. "We've had these games before. It's just a matter of letting them go."

His team has time. It has its young stud lined up. Today is another day.

But it's the Red Sox in control.

"We were able to go into the game with our approach. I thought we had a lot of quality at-bats," Farrell said. "It's always nice to get the first one out of the way."

Jon Couture covers the Red Sox for The Standard-Times. Contact him at jon.couture@bostonherald.com, or through 'Better Red Than Dead' at Blogs.SouthCoastToday.com/red-sox.